The Village People

With Soho and the East Village done and dusted, it was time to check out he Meatpacking District and the other villages - Greenwich and the West.

Before we left we checked the weather forecast and whilst our loved ones were sweltering in scorching temps up in the 40℃'s we were going to enjoy a 1℃ day, complete with snow and rain - so the streets were really slushy and slippery.

Our first port of call was to the Chelsea Market.  The old building the markets are in used to be the National Biscuit Factory.  There is an assortment of bakeries, seafood, Italian supermarket wears, card and book shops as well as gifty knickknacks shops and small eatery stands.

 You can't quite see how slippery the footpaths (or sidewalks) are in this photo, but we were had a few near miss slips here and there and ended up walking very slowly and quite gingerly, taking high lifting small steps like we were cartoon characters sneaking up on somebody - if you can imagine that.

 The High Line is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan's West Side.  It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line.  It was founded in 1999 by  residents in the community who wanted to preserve it at a time when it was under treat of demolition.  The High Line runs from West 30th Street all the way down to Gansevoort Street which is below West 13th Street - so about 19 New York blocks.  They've done such an amazing job with it.  If you ever come to New York, this is a must see.  I have written about it in previous blogs, but the pictures that would have accompanied that write up would have been taken in summer.  This time it looked and felt very different.

That's snow and ice on the boards there which made it very slippery.  We only walked along (solo, I might add - Nobody else was silly enough to go up there!) to the next exit and climbed down to street level.

 Greenwich and the West Village are very different to navigate around to the rest of New York.  They are off the grid, so to speak.  The streets go in a jumble of directions rather than just N, S, E and W, but we wound our way around and found ourselves at the famous Magnolia Bakery - made famous by Carrie in Sex and the City.  The last time I was here there was a line out the door and around the corner, but this time, perhaps due to the non cupcakey weather? It was empty - so in we went to sample their wares.

The little tiny shop is just gorgeous, all decked out with old fashioned bits and bobs.

 I, naturally, chose a Red Velvet - purely for quality control you understand.... and I have to say in comparison to the Reds at George Town Cupcakes, I have to say that George Town was the hands down winner.  Both times!

These south Manhattan boroughs also feel a little different to your Midtowns or your Lower East Sides.  They have a more quiet, slower pace to them and there are more brownstone walk ups with stoops, so you know it's an area where people actually live.  There are trees and sometimes little gardens.  It just has a nice feel to it.

 Just a mosaic on a wall in Greenwich - not your normal graffiti, but I'd prefer it to tagging any day.

 Common mode of transportation - even in the freezing.  I guess that's just how they roll..... 

see what I did there?

If I was going to live in New York - this would be the area that I'd choose, not because of all the reasons I've just mentioned, but because it is also where they made the film - Can't Stop The Music - with The Village People back in 1980.

 By the time the movie was released, disco had waned and the movie won the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Despite that, the song "Can't Stop the Music" became a Club Play chart hit and moderate radio hit. However, it too (Can't Stop the Music, the song) was nominated for Worst Original Song by the 1981 Razzies, and did not live up to expectations, never obtaining gold status as a single or album. 

(Thanks Wikipedia)

I don't care though..... it wouldn't be the first time I've loved a movie that nobody else 'gets'

Anne of Green Gables

Grease 2

Blue Hawaii 

High School USA

Victor Victoria 

I mean, come on - it was about a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman - what's not to love?

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - Soho!

Today is the day that one of my favourite people arrives to join the journey, she is a lovely lady and my favourite cousin - Mrs Chrisso Dobson.

We had both made up a list of all the funky groovy shops we wanted to have a look at around Manhattan and then plotted them on a map which turned out to be a super idea cause there were hundreds of them!

Most of the shops were in Soho, an area so named because it is south of Houston Street.  I think this was the start of shortening people's names like J Lo, Li Lo, A Jo, etc.....  Even the NoCoSoCo (Northcote Social Club)

From now on I would like to be known as 'S Bro'

Anyhoo.... We worked out the subway system and headed downtown.

In a previous post I talked to you about George Town Cupcakes, well I thought it important that Chris should taste these delectable delights as well, just in case I was wrong about their superb deliciousness.

I again went to the Red Velvet because I'm a sucker for them. 

Soho is a mixed bag of shops from funky vintage to surf brands to mega expensive jewellery by Ivanka Trump!  And like that elusive box of chocolates, you just never know what you're gonna get around the next corner.

The mixed bag also goes for the people as well.  Yep, that's a home made nappy on that dog.  The bloke waited until the dog was about to 'make' and he removed the cloth, then wrapped it back up again and they went on their way.  We stood and stared - a little dumbfounded and we thought oh no we can't take a picture of that....... but it appears we could!

Chris is an avid follower of a vintage shabby chic founder and interior designer, Rachel Ashwell.  She has a shop on Wooster Street and we made a beeline for it and we weren't sorry.  It was such a beautiful store - full of furniture and chandeliers and cushions and materials and gorgeous bits and lovely pieces.  

 Chris was like a kid in a candy store!

And even though they assured us that they would be able to ship anything back to Australia, only a couple of small purchases were made.

 This shop was a specialty cooking school of some sort and they had a window full of fabulous cakes in the shape of handbags.  They didn't look too appetising if I'm honest with you.

Some of you (my mum) will know of my fascination with knowing the states.  I even have the app 'Stack the States', a game that teaches you via the fun and frivolity of a game all the states, their location, the capitals cities, the flags and some of the landmarks.  It's a hoot!  Anyway, because of this fascination, you'll understand why I fell in love with this denim wall decoration I found in a shop.  I mean, it's a map of the country made out of bits of denim..... even the mountain ranges have been added with stuffing!

One of the kookier shops we nearly went into was a place called Kiosk.  It was on the 2nd floor of this salubrious looking building.  She didn't open until midday, so we missed out, but after googling it when we got home, Chris said "oh wow, it's a shop that sources things from a different country every 3 months.  What a great idea... and this month it's Finland"..... she then looked at their stock and said, "yeah, we didn't miss much!"

However, the other shops we went to were beautifully decorated and had lovely stock - so you take the weird and grungy with the good I guess.

Soho must have been having a "bring out your dead" as in front of most buildings were these dead, broken Christmas trees amongst the rubbish bags.  It was a little sad really.  Oh well, out with the old! 

 I'll have what she's having!

On our journey between shops in Soho and shops in the East Village we popped by Katz Deli.  The one made famous in "When Harry Met Sally" and it's the home of the enormous pastrami on rye sandwich.  We took out ticket from the man at the door (which was his sole job) and pursued the counter.  Our friend, Shelley Wilton had recently been to NYC and indeed to Katz Deli and she told us of the exact rules you needed to follow if we were to blend in with the locals, however, it was all too overwhelming and the sandwiches too big, so we handed back out tickets to the man, who took them back and gave me a look of "yeah, I  could tell you weren't going to be able to hack it" and we left.  Whatever!

After a massive day of shopping, we headed back uptown in time to make it to our Broadway show of Matilda

The Roald Dahl story of a little girl who is a genius born to moronic parents who treat her terribly and found by a kind and gentle teacher, who herself is struggling with a bully of an aunt who is also the head mistress called Miss Trunchball (who is played brilliantly by a man).  

The music and lyrics were written by Australia's own Tim Minchin and you could tell.  You could hear him in every lyric.  

The role of Matilda was played by 6 different little girls who were around the age of 10.  The one we saw was the 2nd from the left, a little girl called Milly.  She was simply amazing!  

We happened to be sitting behind her mother and look alike sister (who incidentally played a major part in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" last year.  A very talented family with a small, but perhaps pushy mother?  Anyway, the whole cast, including the little girl all acted with perfect English accents.

Just another fabulous day/night in New York City!

The Trauma of Train Travel

I make my reservation

Three months in advance

I'm on a tight time schedule 

And I don't want to take a chance

My alarm is set the night before

To wake at seven thirty

The train won't leave till half past nine

But I like to get there early

Just before I got to sleep

There's an email from Amtrak

Your train has been cancelled

And the time has been pushed back

The lovely people took the liberty

Of putting me on another train

I changed the alarm and went to sleep

We were back on track again

I locate the big screen with the departure times

Mine's the fourth one to be displayed

I find my gate and take a seat

Announcement: Train has been delayed

No 'sorry to inform you'

Or 'we regret to say'

No valid reason given

to explain such a delay

How long will we stand here?

When's the train due now?

Hundreds of confused faces

Scowling with furrowed brow

Five minutes, ten minutes

Twenty minutes pass

Looking at this angry mob

I'm glad I paid for Business Class!